ALAMEDA — Everyone is enamored with the Cody Pickett saga, how injuries and trades resulted in a special-teams player and fourth-string quarterback moving into the starting quarterback’s spot for the San Francisco 49ers.

Well … almost everyone. Encinal High quarterback Antoine Young already heard that story. He was that story last year.

When injuries, eligibility problems and transfers wiped out a half-dozen quarterback prospects during spring and summer workouts, Jets coach Jack Schram was scratching his head. He and his staff finally turned to Young, then a pretty good junior receiver on a team traditionally fixated on the run.

“It was really weird,” Schram recalled. “We always look at our best athletes and consider them as potential quarterbacks. We had one guy back, and he got hurt, then another guy got hurt, one was ineligible, another kid moved …

“It was odd the way the kids kept falling out,” he added. “Before we knew it, we were looking for a seventh quarterback.”

That’s when Young came into the picture. “We said, ‘He’s athletic and smart. … Let’s throw him in there,'” Schram recalled. “The first couple of times he was out there, he made some great reads. I remember thinking, ‘Hey, we can work with this kid.'”

Funny thing, though … Young didn’t want the job initially.

“I really didn’t,” the 6-foot, 190-pound senior said before Thursday’s practice. “I actually didn’t want to have to learn all the plays, but I finally decided to try it.”

Schram wasn’t surprised.

“He liked it a lot when he got in there,” he said. “It was like, ‘Wow … this might showcase my talents a lot better,’ and ‘Hey, now I’m in control here, and that means more carries and more action.'”

Young had some early problems with the option offense and got a little frustrated — “I wasn’t making the right reads, my steps were off, and I really didn’t know all of the plays,” he said — but led Encinal to three straight wins before breaking his wrist.

Young is back this year and has rushed for 500 yards and six touchdowns. He’s also thrown for 467 yards and four touchdowns, although he’s not happy being 30-for-75 (40 percent) or having thrown eight interceptions.

“I’ve had a couple of bad games, but I try not to let them affect me too much,” said Young, who had three of those picks in a 45-15 loss to league-leading Pinole Valley. “If I did, I wouldn’t play to my potential, so I just apologize to the guys and tell them I’ll do better next time.”

Young hasn’t had to make many apologies because he’s got the Jets flying high again. They’re 5-2-1 overall and in second place in the Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League behind Pinole Valley with a 4-1 mark.

Encinal, which takes a four-game winning streak into Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley, should reach the North Coast Section 2-A playoffs after a six-year absence.

Considering the triple-option offense Encinal favors can be brutal to master, a ton of the Jets’ success has to go to Young.

Young helped to put Encinal in solid position for the postseason last week when he led the Jets to a 34-32 win over favored El Cerrito. The Gauchos came in tied for second with Encinal at 3-1, but Young rushed for a game-high 127 yards and a touchdown and also threw for a score.

The win, which also featured two Cyrus Grant touchdowns and some standout play by the offensive line, was huge.

“We had to let everyone know we weren’t flukes … and the other teams we play are going to know it, too,” said Young, who also plays linebacker. “We have a lot of weapons, and we’re confident.

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